The Trump administration is compromising national security prosecutions to conceal intelligence about an unprecedented alliance between a foreign government and one of America’s most wanted terrorist organizations.
Vladimir Antonio Arevalo-Chavez represents a unique intelligence asset in the fight against MS-13, the transnational gang responsible for countless acts of terrorism across the Americas. As a member of their “Ranfla Nacional” leadership council, he possesses detailed knowledge of the organization’s structure, operations, and most damaging of all – their secret collaboration with government officials.
Federal charges against Arevalo-Chavez include racketeering, terrorism, and narco-terrorism conspiracy – serious national security crimes that typically result in decades-long prison sentences. His prosecution could have dealt a devastating blow to MS-13’s international operations.
Instead, the Justice Department is abandoning the case entirely. Court documents reveal prosecutors want him deported immediately, citing “geopolitical and national security concerns” – language that typically indicates classified intelligence considerations.
But experts believe the real “national security concern” is preventing Arevalo-Chavez from revealing how El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele struck a deal with MS-13 in 2019. The alleged agreement involved government payments to the gang in exchange for reduced violence and electoral support – intelligence that could destabilize a key regional ally.
“This is about protecting intelligence relationships, not national security,” explained one former counterterrorism official. “They’re choosing diplomatic convenience over actually dismantling this terrorist network.”
The pattern is clear: another Ranfla Nacional leader, Cesar Humberto López-Larios, was quietly freed and deported in March under identical circumstances. Both men possessed intelligence about the Bukele-MS-13 connection that apparently threatens broader US strategic interests in Central America.
Political scientist Michael Ahn Paarlberg warns this approach is counterproductive: “You can’t fight terrorism by protecting the governments that enable terrorists.”